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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
There are now 163 acres of parks, public playgrounds and rest gardens (including the Botanic Gardens and Victoria Park) which provide 4 tennis courts and 8 association football, 5 miniature football, 2 hockey, one rugby football, and 3 cricket grounds, all grass covered, together with 9 all-weather tennis courts, 29 basketball, 4 volleyball and 16 miniature football grounds on hard surfacing. Of the 65 public playgrounds and rest gardens, 21 have provision for ball games.
The Victoria Park Swimming Pool, built to Olympic standards from funds donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, was opened in 1957. The main purpose of the pool is to cater for the under- privileged members of the community, especially children, and this is reflected in the low admission fees (30 cents for children, 50 cents for adults). There are also special reduced rates for organized groups of school-children using the pool (5 cents for children over 14 years and 3 cents for children under 14 years). In addition large numbers of children sponsored by welfare and other agencies are admitted free. 123,293 children and 165,364 adults used the pool during 1959 and many galas and competitions were also held there.
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The Gardens Section of the Urban Services Department carries out or supervises all gardening development and maintenance in public recreation areas, the grounds of most Government schools, hospitals, offices and quarters, and the grassed areas at the Airport, covering in all some 542 acres. Ornamental trees, shrubs, and other plants are grown in five nurseries which can produce several thousand potted plants for decorative purposes on official occa- sions.
The Section contains a botanical branch responsible for the care of, and additions to, the collection of over 28,000 specimens in the Colonial Herbarium. As well as maintaining this collection, started by Richard Brinsley Hinds in 1841, the branch also keeps in touch with institutions abroad and deals with phyto-sanitary control of live plants and plant produce leaving the Colony.
The Gardens Section is also in charge of the Li Cheng Uk Tomb, which is believed to belong to the Later Han (A.D. 25-200) or the Six Dynasties (200-589) period. This tomb was discovered in 1955 by workmen levelling a low mound on a building site in Kowloon. The contents of the tomb are displayed in a small
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